Hands Free: David Lega’s Inspiring Journey documents the story of Swedish Paralympic medalist David Lega, who was named “Outstanding Young Person of the World” for 2005 by the International Junior Chamber of Commerce, and it’s no wonder.
Here’s a guy who retired from competitive swimming in his 20s after winning three World Championship gold medals and now cruises around in a wheelchair of his own design, lecturing, studying law, and working with disability groups across Europe. All that, and he can shoot an air gun with his tongue.
Growing Up with Arthrogryposis
Lega, who has arthrogryposis, writes that he was born at “exactly the right moment in history and in the right place.” The Swedish welfare state was at its peak in the 1970s and 1980s. Lega benefited from intensive physical therapy, attended inclusion classes, and spent his summers at a state-run camp for children with disabilities.
But Lega gives the most credit to his parents. His mother, who was 16 when he was born, was a constant source of strength and encouragement, and his father, a Polish immigrant, threw him into the sea on their summer vacations, determined that his son would learn to swim like any other child.
A Sense of Humor about Disability
Lega recalls being thrown into the water, and later mishaps like falling off curbs, with a laugh. Humor is everywhere in Hands Free, from Lega’s description of his “saucy little index finger” (the only appendage that he can control) to his swimming style: “There’s an air of a dying swan about me.”
Because of his conspicuous public persona, he is often asked if there isn’t, underneath all the jokes, a tragic figure.
“There’s nothing tragic about my disability,” he replies. “Being born with a disability is like not being able to fly.” You can’t miss something you’ve never known.
Albania’s Hero
Tragedy is what Lega sees on a trip to Albania, where children with disabilities are shut in institutions, and few who need wheelchairs have the money to buy them. So what does he do? Now, if you want David Lega to give a lecture to your group, you’ll pay the cost of his speech plus exactly the cost of one wheelchair in Albania.
Lega is something of a hero there, and not only in the disability community. He is nicknamed “Mr. Ping Pong” after playing against the sports minister on national television using only his mouth.
Lega’s autobiography is not just “inspiring” as the subtitle suggests. It’s a fun read, and surprisingly intimate. The reader comes away with a feeling of knowing David Lega and wishing that more people in the United States knew him.
For more information, read Hands Free: David Lega’s Inspiring Journey. David Lega and Petter Karlsson. Starfalk. 2008. Translated from the Swedish by Clare James.
